My Hero
by triojediknights
Summary: "Hands suddenly grab me, spin me around. In the glare, I can't make out who it is before I feel lips crash over my own in a searing kiss. I swoon for just an instant in the embrace, recognizing the taste of those lips, but then panic, remembering where we are. Before I have time to react, however, I am given a hard shove and I fall backwards out of the truck's path."
1. Chapter 1: Saved

**Chapter 1: Saved**

Juliet's eyes gleam in the moonlight as they dart about. Snapping to the road, I sense what she is about to do mere seconds before she does it. But I am ready, my muscles are primed. Even if I am terrified. There is the whining roar of a truck on final approach, its headlights coming more into focus with each passing moment, and Juliet darts towards it, seizing her chance. I leap after her.

"Juliet, STOP!"

"SAM!" A call of my name. I know that the voice does not belong to Juliet, but even then I barely hear it over the blare of the truck's horn, as I push Juliet out of the way. I am caught in the beam of the headlights and stand serene and strong, ready to accept my fate. Ten feet... then five... The horn is a steady whine in my ears...

Hands suddenly grab me, spin me around. In the glare, I can't make out who it is before I feel lips crash over my own in a searing kiss. I swoon for just an instant in the embrace, recognizing the taste of those lips, but then panic, remembering where we are. Before I have time to react, however, I am given a hard shove and I fall backwards out of the truck's path, nearly over the dividing line and down the slightly sloped embankment. There is a squealing of tires and a sickening crunch.

I am on my knees quickly, mouth open in horror; I barely note how Juliet Sykes is sprawled feet away from me, looking just about as dazed and in disbelief as I feel.

"Kent! NOOOOOO!" My sneakers scrape for purchase along the uneven terrain where grass turns into gravel, and I stumble a little as I fling myself over to him. My heart stops when I see how impossibly still my lover is, gruesome scratches and trails of blood lining up and down his body. A shadow falls over us - the truck driver, now out of his car and yelling at us hoarse how we're a bunch of damned fool kids and what the fuck were we thinking. A ball of fire seems to sit on top of his head, and squinting through the haze, I can see it is a bright red cap. That gives me all the permission I need to tune the guy out. He is not my primary concern, and with his choice of headwear, I can reasonably deduce he is retarded and not worth it anyway. Though the sight of one of those in liberal Washington State is about as exotic as an endangered species on a safari.

I turn my attention back to Kent, and shiver with how chilled he feels. He isn't cold, and I can amazingly still feel a pulse under my fingers, but if some help doesn't come quick...

My gaze lands on Juliet, who is inching into the road on unsteady feet, still staring bewildered at the chaos she has indirectly wrought. I tamp down the urge to be angry with her. None of us could have predicted Kent's intercession.

"Juliet, run back to the house and get help," I order. I finally focus on the truck driver; my directive to him is not nearly as calm or polite. "And you: call an ambulance!"

And I wait in the glow of the headlights as I cradle Kent in my lap.


	2. Chapter 2: True Love

**Chapter 2: True Love**

I am nothing if not persistent. Lindsay has made a point of telling me so more times than I can count. Getting free passage to the hospital in the ambulance with Kent was easy, as I was close to hysterical with the full weight of what happened finally hitting me. The paramedics probably just assumed I was Kent's girlfriend and let me stay with him.

Not letting him out of my sight once inside the hospital is a bigger challenge.

Hospital policy in Ridgeview is that only family members of the injured party can remain with the patient. When reminded of this by the secretary at the front desk, I lie as smoothly as I can and claim to be Kent's fiancé. No one bothers to look for a ring on my finger to corroborate the yarn, and I am allowed back with him. Someone needs to be there: I got a panicked text from Lindsay, relating how Kent's parents have been notified. That of course followed the disbelieving text, in which Lindsay thought that a slightly deranged Juliet was going Psycho again, rambling about how Kent was hurt and I, nearly so. I snapped Lindsay out of that real quick by taking a selfie in the ambulance, the look on my face clearly telling her to knock it the fuck off. Only then could she take me seriously. Somehow, someone had the presence of mind to contact my parents - a move I had completely forgotten about in my concern for Kent. I receive a ping from my mom, followed by a panicked voicemail enroute to the hospital.

Now, I am at Kent's bedside, simply waiting for him to wake up. And for others to show up. He is hooked to machines, the BEEP of the monitor telling me he is alive. Apparently, he died for just a moment in the chaotic ambulance before the response team revived him. I was too distraught to notice.

Seeing a space on the bed where I can comfortably sit, I scoot closer to Kent, bathing in his warmth - another sign that he is still here, with me.

"My poor hero," I murmur sadly, and I cradle his head in my lap, my tears falling onto his upturned face like sweet rain. Gently, I dip my head and press my lips to his.

It is as if my kiss awakens him. Kent's body twitches slightly, and I feel him groan under my mouth. "Sam..." His voice, though weak, tickles my lips.

I spring back, a little flustered, as though he has caught me in the act of kissing him. Then, I clap a startled hand over my mouth to stifle the sob as Kent jerks fully awake.

"You've alive!" I breathe, and with joy, I throw my arms around him, peppering his face with kisses again and again. And then, I really am sobbing. "You... you saved me..."

Kent just smiles. "You know, when I vowed to be your hero too, I didn't think I would have to clear such a high bar. Sam... what... why...?"

I place a finger over his lips. "Ssssh... don't speak..." Then I replace my finger with my mouth. He must have a million questions, and I will answer every single one, but not now. Now, just being together is enough.

I am still openly kissing Kent when the hospital room door bangs open to let in a crowd of people. In the lead, Lindsay stops dead in shock, so sharply that Ally and Elody nearly crash into her. It would almost be comical if they weren't catching me blatantly kissing a boy they all think is beneath them.

"You left Rob Cokran... for that?" Ally splutters.

"He saved my life, Ally," I reply simply, which doesn't really answer the question. Technically, I was making out with Kent McFuller minutes (and in my looping mind, days,) before he took my place in front of a moving car. "But, yes, he is my boyfriend."

Lindsay is smiling way too tightly - so tightly, in fact, that her clenched teeth almost don't seem to move as she gets out, "Are... are you serious?"

I hold her gaze, refusing to wilt. "Did I stutter?"

Lindsay now gapes like a fish, opening and closing her trap silently. "Cars... psychos... bowler hats!" she spits, the words disjointed and random. "You all deserve each other!" And she stomps out of the room seething, Ally and Elody dithering after her, though the latter sends me what almost appears to be an encouraging look over her shoulder.

"She'll come around," Kent chuckles, as though he has just watched an amusing YouTube video.

"Of course she will," I laugh, though in reality, I'm not so sure. Kent sees the best in everybody, but however endearing this might be, in the case of Lindsay Edgecombe, it is likely rather naive.

But then, Kent cranes his neck up to capture my lips with his, and suddenly nothing else matters. There is only us, and the relief that we will get to live another, brand new day.


End file.
